Chiefs bring in Williams

Exeter Chiefs are continuing their busy period of recruitment for next season with young prop Harry Williams the latest name added to the playing roster for the 2015/16 season.

The 23-year-old, tight-head prop is Rob Baxter's seventh recent signing having agreed terms on a two-year deal from Championship side Jersey.

An upcoming front-row force, Williams has nurtured his rugby career initially as a youngster at Wasps, before moving on for spells with Loughborough University, Nottingham and, more recently, Jersey.

Standing at 6'2” and weighing in at just over 20 stone, the London-born forward hopes to follow the recent lead of current Chiefs Jack Yeandle, Tomas Francis, Alex Brown, Elvis Taione and Mitch Lees, all of whom have settled well to life in the Aviva Premiership having started out in the Championship.

"I'm really excited about the move,” said Williams. "When I came and looked around the place, I was blown away by the facilities and how high-tech everything was around the place. Sandy Park is an unbelievable facility, so it will be great to be part of the place when I arrive.”

Williams is the latest acquisition brought in by Baxter in recent weeks and the second – alongside Nottingham hooker Shaun Malton – to arrive courtesy of English rugby's second tier.

It's a breeding ground that the Chiefs have been keen to utilise ever since their promotion into the Premiership in 2010 and Williams says he cannot wait to get stuck into life in the top flight.

He added: "A bit like Shaun Malton said the other week, I couldn't quite believe how much the coaches went into detail about my game. They had something like 10 different clips of me playing and went through them with me during our initial talks.

"When I visited I could see there was a really good vibe about the place and having talked to Rob Baxter and Rob Hunter, it seemed it you're willing to work hard in everything that you do, then you'll get your chance at some stage and then it's up to you to stay there.”

Certainly, Baxter has never been afraid to offer that chance to aspiring young players and Williams is hopeful he can do enough to impress his new team.

"It's another step up for me in terms of my career, Exeter are a club that are really on the rise and it will be great to be part of a quality Premiership set-up,” he said.

"You can see Exeter aren't afraid to give young players a go, you only have to look at Tomas Francis – he was at London Scottish this time last year – and now he's regularly playing in the Premiership.”

Williams also had praise for his current club Jersey, who he says have helped to nurture his game throughout the course of the current campaign.

He continued: "Jersey have been really good to me this year and I can't thank them enough for what they've done for me. Steve Boden, the forwards coach, I owe a lot to as he's one of the best coaches around in my eyes. He's really helped to develop my game since I've been at the club and it's partly down to him that I've managed to get this move to Exeter.”